Apple engaged in data colonisation: Trai

The matter has remained unresolved over the last one year and has now led to an attack on the American electronics giant by R S Sharma, chairman of Trai.Pankaj Doval | TNN | Updated: August 08, 2017, 21:52 IST

New Delhi: Telecom regulator Trai has accused iPhone maker Apple of engaging in “data colonisation” in India and being “anti-consumer” by not allowing customers to pass on details about pesky calls and unwanted messages to authorities as well as their mobile operators.

The matter has remained unresolved over the last one year and has now led to an attack on the American electronics giant by R S Sharma, chairman of Trai. “While Google’s Android supports our Do-Not-Disturb (DND) app, Apple has just been discussing, discussing, and discussing. They have not done anything,” Sharma told TOI.

Trai had in June last year launched the DND app to have an effective control over the menace of pesky calls and unsolicited SMS. The app has the capability to procure SMS details and call records of an individual from the phone’s messages column and call-log records. This would enable a customer to report the number sending unsolicited messages or making pesky calls straight to Trai from the app, following which action could be taken.

However, Apple has not allowed such a convergence on its iOS platform, leading customers of the premium device maker exasperated.

“So basically you (Apple) are violating the right of the user to willingly share his/her own data with the regulator or with any third party of his/her choice. If a customer wants to share financial transaction data with his/her bank, for getting a loan, why should it not be allowed?” Sharma said, adding, “This is what we call data colonisation.”

A detailed questionnaire sent to Apple over the matter remained unanswered at the time of going to print. However, it is understood that the company is engaged in deliberations with the regulator over the matter.

Sharma said that Apple’s stand is not in the interest of its customers. “They are anti-consumer and they are really not caring for their customers who could have been saved from pesky calls and unwanted messages.”

The Trai chief said another issue that needs to be debated is about the rights on the data that is being generated by a customer. “There is a more fundamental question about data ownership. While data privacy and data security are very important issues, there is also a fundamental issue about data ownership over here.”

Sharma said that it is the customer who should have the last right over the data that he or she is generating. “It is my data. How can you take away my right over my own data?”

He said an individual needs to have control over the data being generated by him or her, and also have the freedom to share it with whoever he/she wants to share with. “It is not Apple’s data, it is not the data of a telephone manufacturer. My call logs or my SMS data cannot be the data of the device manufacturer.”

He also questioned how Apple was sharing its iCloud data with social media giants such as Facebook. “Why can’t you do the same thing with Trai? You are doing this with Facebook as there may be a commercial arrangement.”

Industry sources said Apple’s refusal stems from the company’s concerns around privacy and encryption of the information. “The issue could also involve Trai’s app not meeting some technology protocols of Apple,” said a source in the know of the development.

Several people ET spoke with about Ericsson’s India operations, including its current and former employees, said the Stockholm-based firm has reduced headcount in the last one year or so across functions, in line with its global restructuring.